Mail-delivery apparatus.



W. E. FISHER. MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. E. FISHER. MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY28,1913. 1,090,977, Patented Mar. 24, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

in 4? 4s COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, D. c. I

WILLIAM E. rrsrrnn,

FTC.

OF MILLER, NEBRASKA.

MAIL-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

noeaavv.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. FISHER, citizen of the United States, residing at Miller, in the county of Buffalo and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Delivery Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accornpanying drawings.

This invention relates to delivery apparatus for mail and of its objects to provide an apparatus of this character including a motor propelled car or carrier of improved construction and a supporting wire or cable therefor whereby mail is easily and quickly conveyed from the road or gate to the residence along a rural route.

My invention further comprehends the provision of a spring motor for operating the carrier and reversing means therefor, and means arranged upon the door of the mail compartment of the carrier whereby the reversing means is actuated when the door is closed to reverse the operation of the motor and cause the carrier to travel upon its supporting wire from the road to the house.

My invention has for another object the provision of improved means for mounting the overhead wire or cable.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mail delivery apparatus which is comparatively simple in its construction, may be manufactured and installed at small cost and is extremely durable as well as reliable in practical use. 7

With the above and other objects in view as will become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certaln constructions, combinations and arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mail delivery apparatus embodying the present invention, the carrier being located at one end of the supporting wire or cable; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the carrier; Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4L- is a section taken on the line 1-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; Figs. 6 and 7 are de- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 28, 1913.

the like and has for one Patented Mar. 2a, 1914.

Serial No. 781,677.

tail fragmentary perspective views of the forward end of the mail carrier illustrating the sliding bolt on the door of the mail com.- partment for actuating the reversing rod; Fig. 8 is a rear end elevation showing the mounting of the carrier; Fig. 9 is a detail transverse section illustrating the mounting of the trolley wire or cable.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designates the spaced supporting posts which are arranged at intervals from the road traveled by the postman to the house. To each of the two adjacent end posts at opposite ends of the line to be traversed by the car or carrier, the angle brackets 6 are bolted or otherwise secured. The extremities of the horizontal arms of these angle brackets are connected by the track rail 7. This track rail is of angular form in cross section and has one of its flanges vertically disposed as clearly shown in Fig. 8, to receive the grooved supporting wheels 8 which are mounted in the upper looped ends 9 of the hanger bars 10.

The hanger bars 10 are riveted or otherwise fixed to the body wall of the car or carrier 11, the depending ends of said bars extending upon relatively opposite sides of said car. The ends of a wire or cable 12 are securely riveted or otherwise secured to the upstanding flanges of the track bars 7 at opposite ends of the line of travel of the car and at intermediate points this cable is supported by the bracket arms 13 which are fixed to the posts 5. The outer ends of these arms are vertically extended as indicated at 14: and clamping plates 15 are adjunct-ively associated therewith. These clamping plates and the extensions 14: of the bracket arms are provided with coinciding openings to re ceive the connecting bolts 16.

17 designates a strip of tin or other sheet metal, the medial portion of which is designed to surround the wire or cable 12. The ends of this sheet metal strip which are per forated to receive the bolt 16 are adapted to be disposed between the clamping plate 15 and the end 14 of the supporting arm 13. It will thus be seen that by simply tightening the nut on the end of the bolt 16, the plate 15 is drawn into tight clamping engagement with the end-s of the sheet metal strip, thus securely retaining the trolley wire or cable 12 in place. To each of the hanger bars 10 on the car or carrier 11 a retaining flange 18 is secured and extends beneath the A transversely ed in the bars a large beveled wire or cable 12 and the track rail 7 in the movement of the car to prevent vertical movement of the latter and obviate liability of the wheels 8 jumping off of said rail or wire. The horizontal arms of the bracket 6 to which the ends of the rail 7 are connected are braced by means of the rods 19 fixed at their upper ends to said bracket arms and at their lower ends to the adjacent supporting posts 5.

Having above described the mounting of the car or carrier for travel from the roadway to the house, I will now proceed with a specific description of the operating means for said carrier. This means includes a spring motor arranged within the carrier casing, said casing being preferably constructed of sheet metal and provided adjacent its fOPWilI'Cl end with an interior partition wall 20. From this partition wall parallel bars 21 extend rearwardly and are fixed at their rear ends to the casing wall.

disposed shaft 22 is mount- 21 adjacent their forward ends and projects at one of its ends exteriorly of the casing for the application of a suitable crank 23 thereto. To this shaft one end of a coil spring 24 is fixed, the other end of said spring being secured to the transverse rod 25 fixed at its ends in the bars 21. A gear wheel 26 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 22 and a ratchet disk 27 is fixed upon said shaft at one side of said gear wheel. A pawl 8 mounted upon the face of the gear wheel is held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet by a suitable spring, The gear wheel 26 meshes with the pinion 29 fixed to a second transverse shaft 30 journaled in the bars 21. A large gear wheel 31 is also fixed to this shaft and meshes with a pinion 32 secured upon the transverse shaft 33. To this latter shaft gear 34 is fixed adjacent one of its ends, and meshes with a corresponding gear 35 fixed upon one end of the shaft 36 journaled in the transverse supporting bars 3'? extending between the longitudinal bars 21, and fixed to the latter. The opposite end of the shaft 36 is also provided with a beveled gear 38 which engages a pair of beveled gears 39 loosely mounted upon the transverse shaft 40 j ournaled in the bars 21. An elongated pinion 41 is keyed for sliding movement upon the shaft 40 and meshes with a gear wheel 42 on the shaft 43. This latter gear wheel transmits rotation to a perpendicular shaft 44 mounted in the casing of the carrier and extending above the same through the medium of the pinion 45 fixed upon the shaft 46 journaled in the bars 21. One end of this shaft is provided with a beveled pinion 47 to mesh with a similar pinion 48 on the lower end of the shaft 44. The upper end of this perpendicular shaft is mounted in a supportthereto.

ing bracket 49 fixed to one of the hanger bars 10 and pinion 50 to engage a similar pinion 51 fixed to the axle of one of the trolley Wheels 8.

As before stated, the elongated pinion 41 is mounted for sliding movement upon the shaft 40 and is provided upon opposite ends with suitable clutch teeth for engagement with complementary clutch teeth indicated at 52 formed on the inner opposed faces of the gears 39. This pinion 41 is adapted to be shifted in order to reverse the rotation of the driy ing shaft 53 which is transversely slidable openings provided in the 54 which are fixed to the 21. To this rod, a forked and engages in an annular groove provided in the pinion 41. One end of the rod 53 is provided with an opening 56 to receive one of the arms of a bell crank lever 57 fulcrumed upon one of the plates 54. To the other arm of this lever, one end of the re versing rod 58 is pivotally connected. This rod extends longitudinally along one of the side walls of the carrier casing and is movable through suitable guide sleeves 59 which are secured thereto. A knob or finger piece 60 is secured to the reversing rod adjacent its other end and is shiftable in a longitudinal slot 61 provided in one of the side walls of the carrier casing.

In order to prevent racing of themotor and limit the speed of movement of the carrier upon the supporting track, I provide a fan 62 which is mounted between one of the longitudinal bars 21 and an additional bar 63 extending in parallel relation A geartrain generally indicated by the numeral 64 is also arranged between these bars and gaged with the gear 65 fixed upon the shaft Through the medium of this gear train, power is transmitted to the shaft of the fan 62.

The forward end of the carrier casing is provided with a hinged door 66 and upon the inner face thereof a bolt 67 is mounted for sliding movement in'a suitable guide 68. An operating knob or pin 69 is fixed to this bolt and projects outwardly through a slot 70 in the door 66. The free end of a leaf spring 71 arranged upon the inner face of the door bears against thebolt 67 and tends to force the same toward the reversing rod 58 which is mounted upon the adjacent side wall of the carrier casing.

through supporting plates longitudinal bars is provided with a beveled.

one element thereof is en- 44 by means of a rod f arm 55 is secured p From the above descri )tion the oaeraup on the car outwardly upon the track to the roadway. After the mail has been deposited in the mail compartment, the postman swings the door 66 upwardly to its closed position. The end of the bolt 67 isthus brought into engagement with the end of the reversing rod 58 and said rod moved to actuate the sliding rod 53 through. the medium of the bell crank lever 57 and shift the pinion ll to disengage the same from one of the gears 39 and engage said pinion with the other of said gears, thus reversing the rotation of the driving shaft 44 for the car or carri r. It is thus apparent that under the action of the spring 2 the movement of the carrier is reversed and the same will travel inwardly from the roadway to the house. After arriving at its destination, the householder opens the door 66 and removes the mail. The bolt 69 is held in a retracted position when the door is again closed and the reversing rod 58 is then shifted through the medium of the knob or pin 60 to again reverse the operation of the driving shaft. The reversing rod is held in this latter position by the engagement of the end of the bolt 67 with said rod as clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

In order to obviate shock or jar to the carrier and possible injury thereto when the same arrives-at the end of its travel, 1 provide the shock absorbing spring 72 arranged rod 73 which is movably mounted in spaced bearing plates 7 L fixed to the top of the carrier casing. One end of the spring 7 Z bears against one of the bearing plates 74 while the other end thereof engages the enlargement or shoulder 7 5 formed upon the rod 78. The outer end of the rod 73 is adapted to contact with a stop or abutment plate 76 fixed to one of the end rails 7. It will thus be seen that when the car or carrier reaches the end of its outward travel from the house to the roadway, the rod 73 engaging the stop plate 76 is forced rearwardly and the spring 72 compressed. By thus providing the yielding stop for the car,

the same is prevented from being thrown ofi l of the track rails and all liability of injury thereto obviated. The vertically disposed hanger bars 10 are preferably connected at their upper ends by a longitudinal extending brace bar 77.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have produced a mail delivery apparatus which is of simple construction, highly efficient and reliable in p actical use and may be manufactured and installed at comparatively small cost. The postman is relieved of considerable time and trouble in the delivery of mail to the residences along his route as it is simply necessary to place the mail within the compartment or carrier and close the door thereof scribed, a carrier and thus automatically reversing the operation of the actuating mechanism for said carrier so that the same is immediately caused to move from the roadway to the house. It will further be appreciated that by means of my invention the householder may readily obtain his mail without necessitating that he leave the house in inclement weather. It will of course be understood that the car or carrier can be made of various other shapes than that shown in the drawing and also of different proportions if desirable. Such changes as may be dictated by the particular circumstances of the use of my invention are contemplated in the subjoined claims. In some instances, as when the trolley wire or cable is covered with sleet, the supporting wheels will slide thereon so that the car or carrier will not traverse the same. I therefore deem it advisable to provide an emergency box or receptacle 78 to receive the mail. This box is preferably mounted upon one of the supporting posts 5 in any suitable manner.

It is of course to be understood that while I have above disclosed a particular construction of the operating gearing for the carrier, my invention is not necessarily limited thereto but various mechanical means now in common use may be employed for imparting power to the driving and supporting wheels 8 of the carrier. The invention is also susceptible of a great many other minor modifications in the form, proportion and arrangement of the several parts without necessarily departing from the essential features or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a carrier and a suspended track therefor, supporting wheels mounted upon said carrier to travel on said track, a motor for operating said carrier, said motor including a gear train, a reversing pinion in said gear train, a driving connection between the gear train and one of said carrier wheels, said carrier having a mail compartment provided with a door, a rod for operating the reversing pinion, and means mounted upon the door of the mail compartment to engage and shift said rod when the door is closed whereby the reversing pinion is shifted to reverse the rotation of the drive wheel.

2. In an apparatus of the character dea suspended track therefor, supporting wheels mounted upon said carrier to travel on said track, a motor for operating said carrier, said motor including a gear train, a reversing pinion in said gear train, a driving connection between the gear train and one of said carrier wheels, said carrier having a mail compartment provided with a door, a slidable rod connected to said reversing pinion, a bell crank lever, one arm of which is connected to said rod, a reversing rod connected to the other arm of said lever, said rod being provided with a pin mo-vably disposed in the slot in the carrier casing whereby said rod may be manually actuated, a spring pressed bolt mounted upon the door of the mail compartment to engage the reversing rod and hold the same in one of its adjusted positions, said bolt being adapted to engage said rod when the door is closed and shift the same to actuate the reversing pinion and reverse the rotation of the drive wheel.

3. In an apparatus of the character clescribed, a carrier and a suspended track therefor, supporting wheels mounted upon said carrier to travel on said track, a motor the reversing rod when the gear train and one of said carrier wheels, said carrier having a mail compartment pro vided with a door means for actuating the reversing pinion including a longitudinally shiftable reversing rod upon one wall of the carrier casing, a springpressed sliding bolt mounted upon the inner face of the door of the mail compartment and adapted to engage the reversing rod to hold the same in one of its adjusted posi tions, said bolt being also adapted to engage the door is moved to its closed position to shift said rod and actuate the reversing pinion whereby the rotation of the carrier drive wheel is reversed. In testimony whereof I hereunto afliX my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. FISHER.

for operating said carrier, said motor in- Witnesses:

eluding a gear train, a reversing pinion in JOHN G. KING,

said gear tram, a drlvmg connection between Ross BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by

addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

slidably mounted 

